You're Too Good For This World
by Alexandra Cantarella
Summary: He was always scared that one of those battles would kill her. He should have been afraid of losing her to the one battle that he can never help her with: herself. Ctto of this prompt from Tumblr.


"RAVEN!"

A harsh, broken scream destroyed the silence of the night as a flurry of black, purple and blue plummeted to the ground. The owner of the scream ran, forgetting that he had his grappling hook securely nestled to his utility belt. As he ran, he silently willed her to have the strength to stop time. She did it last time, didn't she? So why couldn't she do it now? If time were a person, he would've strangled them until submission so that he would have time to stop her from landing on her asphalt-coated casket. He prayed to every God of every religion he knew to save her, wishing for once that the laws of physics would have mercy on such a pure creature.

But, that was the thing about wishful thinking; it would certainly get him nowhere.

Even with the odds stacked against him, he ran. His brain was telling him that he would fail, that he would not be able to do anything for her. But his heart was telling him to try. And he would listen. He would try for her. He would try for the one person who never gave up on him and trusted him wholeheartedly. He would try.

And that's what pained him the most: because he could only try.

Time didn't stop. Gravity kept pulling her down. No form of divine intervention occurred. Robin's eyes widened behind the white and black mask as her body landed with a cold, sickening fall. The wind blew without mercy, causing her trademark indigo cloak to uncover her body. It was at this moment when time finally stopped.

But it acted a second too late.

Letting pure adrenaline consume his entire being, the vigilante willed himself to go faster, knowing a nanosecond delay could be a nanosecond too late.

When he finally arrived, fatigued and out of breath, it only took one look for all of his strength to vanish completely. Hope turned to despair as he feel to his knees. Through tear-filled eyes, the young hero caught another glimpse of the barely breathing, half-demon sprawled in front of him before he lost it.

She looked as still as a statue, and a beautiful one at that. Tragically beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless. Her head was bent in a painful angle and surrounded by a halo of mauve and red, like wine and blood mixing together.  
Purple and red...  
Robin and Raven…  
Wine and blood…  
Sweet and bitter…  
Her flawless, gray skin looked abnormally pale and was decorated with something more menacing and incriminating than the mark of Scath: it was red and thick and human. Robin almost laughed at the irony: Raven always fought with her demonic side in order to keep her loved ones safe; she fought her demonic side to be more human; she wanted to be human, but it seemed that her human side would eventually lead her to her downfall.

"Rae?" he whispered, and by God, he would keep his voice that low. He wasn't sure what would come out of his mouth if he spoke any louder.  
"Rae?" he repeated, steel and ice grating down his throat and finally sinking to his stomach.  
"Raven, please. Answer me, Rae."

His fingers shakily touched the base of her throat for a pulse, but none came.

He, who accepted her and protected her from the beginning, failed her.  
He, whom she had trusted with her life, failed her.  
He, who joined forces with his sworn enemy to save her, failed her.  
He, who literally went to hell and back for her, failed her.  
He, who promised to be there for her, protect her and cherish her, failed her.  
That person, that "he", was the one who failed her.

He once thought that his greatest fear was Raven getting hurt. It was only now that he realized not being able to protect her from her fate was much worse.

The former Boy Wonder, protégé of the Batman himself, released a broken, wretched sob. He scooped up Raven's lifeless form from the cold, merciless pavement and brought her to his bigger, warmer body. It just looked so surreal, so strange: fierce and formidable Raven, daughter of Trigon himself now just a limp rag doll in his arms. She fought villains and creatures and even her own father to protect mankind. He was always scared that one of those battles would kill her. He should have been afraid of losing her to the one battle that he could never help her with: herself.

Burying his face against her cold neck, he inhaled her scent.  
Vanilla and lavender…  
Sweet…  
It was too sweet for a girl—woman—like Raven.  
But it smelled pure; pure and innocent.

Like Raven.

How could the universe be so unfair? Sure, Raven was born out of the devil incarnate, but she fought hard to defy who she was. She protected people from the evil of the world and from herself. She was willing to sacrifice everything for this world. Couldn't her parentage be overlooked and outweighed by her goodness and altruism?

Nothing was fair. Evil would always be around to make the good martyrs.

He looked once more at the person in his arms. She was indeed a martyr, like the countless others. But unlike them, she was not tortured by outside forces or dictators or super villains; she was condemned for her lineage. She was destined to endure eternal damnation because of who she was. She was martyred by her own mind until she succumbed to the shadows. The goodness of her heart was corrupted by her nature.

With one last kiss to her cold lips, his final attempt to bring her back to life, he uttered: "You're too good for this world."

* * *

(A/N:) Hello, people! This is the edited version of this story. As you all know, this piece has been written way, WAY before and I didn't get the chance to edit or was too lazy to. Anyway, here it is, the newly-beta-ed, newly improved version of this story. It was my first time to have a Beta-reader and I'm so happy to say that she was very nice and lovely! Shoutout to Amme Mahtal for taking the time to beta this fic. Not only is she a very good editor, but she's also an awesome writer as well. I may not be a fan of some of the fandoms she writes about but I've read her Catcher in the Rye fic and her Avatar: The Last Airbender fic and they were very good!

Oh, and before I end this note, I wish you lovely people a very belated Merry Christmas! Until next time!


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